Unpacking the DFA’25 Theme — Reclaiming Our Data Futures
Authors: Bobina Zulfa and Tricia Gloria Nabaye (Pollicy)
Across the world, people and communities are struggling to take back control over their data and to be included in decisions about how it is used. This challenge is even more acute in Africa, where old issues from the early days of digitisation meet new ones from emerging technologies and the growing push to turn every aspect of life into data.
If we do not reclaim our data, the benefits of the “data revolution” will remain out of reach for most people. Instead, existing inequalities will deepen, leaving the most vulnerable even further behind. Reclaiming our data futures means imagining and building a fair, human-centred, and just digital ecosystem, one that truly supports inclusive development.
This primer lays the foundation for the conversations at DataFest Africa 2025, offering a way to think about why reclaiming our data matters, what challenges we face, and how we can act together.
Why Reclaiming Matters
Data is now one of the most powerful forces shaping our societies. It influences innovation, power, access to opportunities, and decisions about our lives. From social media to government systems, data decides who benefits and who is left out.
Today, Big Tech companies mine data endlessly to feed artificial intelligence and other technologies. But this comes at a cost, a lack of transparency, ethical risks, and violations of rights. Big data is also not always better data. It can lead to biased systems, online abuse, privacy breaches, and misinformation.
There are also economic concerns, particularly on the invisible labour of data workers, many of them in the global South, who power the multibillion-dollar AI industry with little recognition or fair pay. African creators generate massive value on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, but remain underpaid. This raises the question of “Who really benefits from data?”
Governments also collect large amounts of data to improve public services. Yet Africa still faces huge data gaps in low birth registration rates, weak civil registries, and poor funding for national statistics. Much of the data is estimated, donor-driven, or not detailed enough to reflect diverse realities such as gender, age, income, and rural-urban differences. Citizen data is rarely integrated into decision-making, widening the gap between governments and the people they serve.
Public-private partnerships bring in new investments, but they often tighten institutional control over data, leaving citizens with little say. Regulations exist, but many African countries struggle to hold powerful multinational corporations accountable. Dependence on foreign-owned infrastructure, such as donor-funded data systems or external data centres, raises serious concerns about sovereignty.
Finally, open data, which could benefit economies, research, and transparency, remains scarce. Both governments and corporations could do much more to make data available for the public good.
How We Reclaim
Reclaiming our data does not mean rejecting technology. It means using data responsibly, as a tool for informed decision-making, not as a means of exploitation.
At Pollicy, we centre an Afro-feminist data approach, which promotes digital autonomy, fairness, and care. We challenge the dominant systems where governments and corporations extract and monetise data without consent or fair returns. We believe individuals and communities must have power over their data futures.
Our work involves participatory approaches that bring data literacy to communities, pushing for citizen-centred policies, and addressing power imbalances in data systems. Through research, advocacy, and training, we co-create alternatives that resist exploitation, tackle gender injustice, and imagine joyful, equitable uses of technology.
At DataFest 2025, we will create space for dialogue, games, and demonstrations that make data issues simple and practical. We want participants to not only understand how data is collected and used but also to dream of futures where data truly serves people.
A Call to Action
Reclaiming our data futures means rejecting the idea that our data is just another commodity. It means demanding that technology serve people’s well-being, not just profit. It calls for investment in local infrastructure, feminist and community-led digital ecosystems, and resistance to foreign dominance over African data.
Most importantly, it requires imagination. We must dream beyond small reforms and envision a transformed digital future, one that is ethical, inclusive, and rooted in dignity.
Conclusion
Reclaiming our data futures is not a one-off fight. It is a continuous practice of care, resistance, and solidarity. It means refusing invisibility in the digital systems that shape our lives. At Pollicy, we continue to build tools, networks, and stories that shift power in the digital age. We invite others to join us in creating a future where data serves not just profit, but possibility.
